The share of tourism to the economy shrunk to 5.4 percent last year as the sector suffered from the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic crisis.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the contribution of tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) to the Philippine economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, significantly fell from the 12.8 percent recorded in 2019.
The PSA’s indicators for 2000-2020 also show that tourism’s share to GDP last year is the lowest recorded over the last two decades.
The TDGVA, which is the gross value added generated by tourism industries of the economy that directly serve visitors, amounted to P973.31 billion in 2020, down by 61.2 percent compared with the P2.51 trillion in 2019.
To recall, various quarantine restrictions were placed in the country since mid-March 2020 to address the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This led to limited mobility, temporary closure or partial operation of hotels, resorts and various tourist spots, as well as the cancelation of many local and international flights.
The PSA reported that all forms of tourism expenditures posted downturns in 2020: inbound tourism expenditure declined by 77.9 percent, domestic tourism expenditure by 82.3 percent and outbound tourism expenditure by 73.2 percent.
Internal tourism expenditure, comprising inbound and domestic tourism expenditure, decreased by 81.6 percent.
Inbound tourism expenditure, which refers to the expenditure of non-resident visitors within the Philippines, shared 2.9 percent to the country’s total exports in 2020, down from 10.8 percent the previous year.
On the other hand, domestic tourism expenditure, which covers expenditures of resident visitors within the country either as domestic trip or part of an international trip, contributed 4.1 percent of the household final consumption expenditure, posting a significant decline from 2019’s 22 percent.
The PSA also reported that employment in tourism characteristic industries was estimated at 4.68 million in 2020, which posted an 18.1 percent drop from the 5.72 million in 2019.
The share of employment in tourism industries to total employment in the country was recorded at 11.9 percent.
